Toure Roberts - The Blessed Life (01/15/2026)
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In this sermon, the preacher draws from Genesis 12:1-4, where God calls Abram and promises to bless him so profoundly that he will become a blessing to all families of the earth. The core idea is that true blessing isn’t about chasing personal gain but awakening to the irrevocable «barak» God placed on humanity from creation—He blessed us first so we could live as blessers, free from neediness and fear. The conclusion is a powerful call: step out of old mindsets into deeper relationship with God, embrace your blessed identity, and make your life’s mission to be a blessing to others.
Opening Worship and Awakening to God’s Presence
We’re going to have some fun in the Holy Spirit today, but we also recognize that some of you are not in a fun season, and we’re going to deal with that too. In fact, let’s go to Genesis chapter 12 real quick. Glory to God for that worship team! Lord Jesus, doesn’t it seem like they always know what to sing? They always know what songs to bring in. There’s always a parallel between that and the word, man; they got it! I just thank God for you guys; you’re absolutely incredible! Thank you so much for cultivating an atmosphere where we can recognize God’s presence. It’s not that His presence isn’t here; it’s inaccurate to say, «Oh, the presence of God came in the room.» The reality is we awakened to the consciousness of the presence that was already there.
One of the things I’m learning about faith is that it’s not necessarily God doing something; it’s just us awakening to what He’s done and remaining in that place. Do you understand what I’m saying? It’s awakening to what He’s already done and learning how to remain in that place. Because let’s be honest, life can be like this. It’s not that we aren’t wonderful people, but life is like this, and God is the consistent rock. He’s consistent. So, I think some of the things we’re calling moves of God, I understand why you say it, but I think really it’s a move of you. It’s a move of you; it’s you coming into faith and belief in what God has said about you. Because the truth of the matter is, for the majority of the people under the sound of my voice right now, God doesn’t actually have to tell you anything He hasn’t told you before. If we are to be honest, He doesn’t have to. If He just went silent, maybe He should force us to go back into the recesses of what He has already said, beginning to stir up the gift of God that is already on the inside of us.
Maybe we would reach deeper. Maybe if we didn’t have the luxury of coming and experiencing a word week in and week out, it would make us better believers. You didn’t catch it because it would make us have to go, «Wait, wait, what did you say?» How fast? I’ll pray, I’ll press in, I’ll go back to my notes, I’ll go back to my videos, I’ll do whatever I have to do because you were spoken into my life. If I felt you once, I can feel you again. If I felt you once, that means there’s a place in me where I can go back and find you again. Because you change, if not, you change, if not. And what you said to me two years ago, even though it’s taken longer than I expected for it to come to pass, it’s still true. It’s just as true today as it was when you spoke it.
Sometimes, as we thank God for the church, we have to acknowledge that sometimes the church is a luxury. I don’t have to dig deep; I can just show up. I don’t have to dig deep; I can just go on the livestream. Sorry for talking to you like this too much, too early. Hey, this is turning into music! Hey, all right, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!
Introducing the Blessed Life from Genesis 12
Genesis chapter 12: today we’re going to talk about the blessed life. We’re going to talk about the blessed life in Genesis chapter 12. We’ll read the first four verses. It says, «Now the Lord had said to Abram, 'Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.'» You shall be a blessing; you shall be a blessing. «I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.» So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him.
«I’m going to bless you. I’m going to make your name great, and I’m going to make a nation out of you. My hand is going to be on you so powerfully that that which blesses you gets blessed, and that which curses you gets this ricocheting sort of effect.» I’m going to anoint you in such a way that nothing will be able to touch you, and everything that touches you for good will come back to you. That’s a serious blessing! But then He ultimately tells us why He’s doing it, and it’s hidden in the text. The why that God is doing it is so that you can be a blessing. That’s what I want to talk about today.
Opening Prayer
Father, thank you so much for Your word; it’s a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths. There are some things that You want to say to Your children today, some things You want to say to Your sons and daughters today. God, I pray that the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the anointing that breaks yokes will help deliver this word to Your people in a way that it takes root. Oh yes, it does! Yokes have to be broken, and I thank you that that type of grace is in this house today, as we, Your sons and daughters, can hear and perceive, see ourselves properly, and walk in something powerful and victorious—something stronger, more refined and defined than we had when we walked in.
I thank You for wisdom, revelation, and knowledge, insight, prophecy, and the full use of all the gifts of the Spirit. More than any of that, I thank You for rich, radical agape love. Will You baptize me in the love of God, which breaks yokes? To the end that we might be stronger, that we might be better, that we might be clearer, and above all that we might be a blessing in Jesus’ name. Amen, amen.
The Essence of the Blessed Life
All right, all right, let’s get into this! Let’s get into this—the blessed life! The blessed life—the most amazing way to do life, the most fulfilling way to do life, the freshest way to do life—is to do life with the sense of identity that not only am I blessed, but I am a blessing. To have the mission of your life, hallelujah, be not to get blessed, but to give blessings! Where we struggle with living in that space is sometimes in disbelief that we’re blessed. It’s hard for me to fully and authentically and genuinely embrace the identity of being a blessing if I feel like I still need to get a little bit of blessing myself.
Okay, now we’re going to have a real conversation here. We’re not going to do the cute little church stuff. We’ll have a real conversation right now, because we’ll say, «Yes, I want to be a blessing, » but the reality is our day-to-day is us trying to get blessed. You’re tracking with me, so I want to show you something in the Scripture that hopefully will put to bed the internal argument that you and I might have as it relates to us being blessed. I think there’s something in the earlier chapters of Genesis that’s really going to bless you, and I want us to look at it. It’s in Genesis chapter 1, verses 27 and 28, and you might miss this. If you just graze over it, it says, «So God created man—humankind—so God created humankind in His own image. In the image of God, He created humankind; male and female, He created humankind.»
Then it says, «Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'» So God basically calls and commands His creation to do something that is so much bigger than themselves. He says, «Now, the two of you, I want you to subdue this humongous earth that you haven’t even fully wrapped your hands around. I want you to subdue it, and I want you to populate it.» They didn’t even know multiplication; all they knew was themselves.
«I’m calling you to do this thing that is so much bigger than who you are.» And if we look at that, He doesn’t say that to them until He does something in them first. If we go back to the text, it says, «Then God blessed them, and then He said, 'Do such and such.'» Do this great thing! You ever feel like life requires of you more than what you’ve got to give? Don’t make me come down and talk to you. I’m going to drive right down your street, pull up to your front door, sit down at your table, and open your refrigerator to talk to you today.
Has anybody ever felt like the requirements of life are beyond what you’ve got? Have you ever felt like what God is asking of you is bigger than who you are? The incredible thing that I think this text reveals for us is that God does not ask them to do this great thing until it says that He blessed them. So, it was something in His blessing that gave Him the right to ask for something that was beyond them. He blesses them.
Understanding the Hebrew Word «Barak»
Now, that word «blessed» is an interesting word. It’s the Hebrew word «barak, » and it literally means to bless. It also means to praise, and it has this idea of kneeling in it. It literally means to kneel. That word is actually used as it relates to us praising God, right? We «barak» God; we bless God. We extol Him; we kneel to Him; we acknowledge His magnificence and His greatness. We «barak» God, and so it is appropriate for us, even as it is written so many times in the Psalms, that we bless God, we praise God.
But here, this blessing is going in the opposite direction. It says that God, once He creates us in His own image, and before He gives us an instruction to be great as we’re called to be, it says that God «boom, » «baraks» us. He blesses us; He praises us. This has the idea of kneeling in it, and it sounds crazy. It sounds almost like false teaching, but it’s not—study it! Look it up. God Himself, after He creates us in His image and likeness, and before He tells us to do what we’re called to do, requires us to roll, and having dominion, before he does that, it says He «baraks» us, He blesses us! He praises us!
But not just a cute little «God bless you» like we give each other—"Oh, bless you!» That’s not a «barak.» That’s just pleasantries—"Oh, bless you; you know, God bless you.» No, no! For God to bless you is something bigger than that; it is to impart something unto you that is so wonderful and divine that God has to kneel at it too. Hmm, are you going to catch it? God gave you something! You are blessed, for real! Just simply by being created in His image and likeness means that there’s something about you that God recognizes, and even God has to give it up for the God in you! Are you going to catch it? You’re going to catch it!
It’s one thing to have people around you singing your praises. It’s another thing to have God look at you and say, «Oh, just tell your neighbor, you don’t know who you are! You don’t know who you are!» God creates you, and before He sends you out, He blesses you! He bestows something upon you that you can’t shake—you can’t shake it! When God blesses, what God blesses can’t be cursed! So, the only curse is the lack of recognition of the fact that I’m blessed. Because if I don’t believe I’m blessed, I can’t act blessed, and I can’t move the way blessed people move. Blessed people move with the consciousness that they are blessed.
And since I’m blessed, I might as well go and be a blessing. See, when I don’t know that I’m blessed, I become desperate. I need to be blessed! I will try to bless myself. I will try to help God out. But when I know I am blessed, it changes everything about my life, because I’m not desperate. I’m not after something. I’m not out there trying to «get it"—I already got it! I’ve been «baraked!» Just tell somebody, «You’ve been 'baraked'! You’ve been 'baraked'! You’ve been 'baraked'!» I’ve been «baraked!» There’s something about every time God looks at me; He must give it up real quick! He has to give it up real quick because it says we were created in His image—image—image, mirror! So, every time God looks at you, He sees the reflection of Himself. You’re not catching it. You ain’t catching it! Because if you were catching it, you would recognize who you are, and that would be all you needed.
And you would run out of here with the joy of the blessed! So God, when He engages, «bruh, » are you tracking with me? You’re blessed; it just is what it is. To be human is to be blessed! To be human is to be blessed! Then it got a little tricky after the fall, but then Jesus comes back—watch this! Not to restore you, but to take you to another level. He says, «I came that you might have life, » that would have gotten you back. But He doesn’t stop there; He says, «I came that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly.»
Can we go on this journey today? You’re blessed for real, and the only way that I can get to the liberating place where I do what blessed people do is to recognize that I’m blessed. And what blessed people do is that they are a blessing. They are a blessing! Oh hallelujah! Imagine your life without the pursuit of blessings! Imagine your daily life if you could strip from it that hunger and thirst to bless yourself, or even to find the blessing that’s for you, because to find the blessing that is for you is to operate from a place of deficit!
If I am looking for a blessing, that means that subconsciously in my mind, I am NOT blessed! So I’m on the hunt for what in all actuality I am. Come on, let us talk! Let’s talk today! It’s subtle—it’s subtle! It’s very subtle! I didn’t come to church looking for a blessing; I came to church because I am a blessing, and I wanted to get in a room full of other people that are blessings too! And maybe, just maybe, something crazy might happen if I get a thousand blessed people in a room together and we’re not trying to get something; we’re trying to figure out how to give something!
But if you never get there, you can never be the blessing you were intended to be, because I got news for you: You were not created to be blessed; you were created blessed! You were created to be a blessing! And when you become a blessing, there is a healing in knowing that you’re blessed! There is a healing in becoming a blessing! You are no longer a slave; you’re no longer lacking; you are rich! We’re going on a journey. The Bible says in Proverbs 10:22, «The blessing"—the «barak"—"the blessing of the LORD makes rich, » which means that I have more than what I think I have!
When Life Demands More Than You Feel You Have
So when life is requiring of me more than what I feel like I have, I have to recognize that’s a lie! I have been blessed! I’m rich! I can forgive—oh, yes I can! I can love again—oh, yes I can! Because family, let’s keep it 100: Won’t life require of you more than you sometimes feel you have? If that hasn’t happened to you, you just keep living! You just keep living! Some of you, life itself seems like more of a burden than what you have. I know, I get the emails! I get the text messages! I get the DMs! I know where people are! I’m not talking about the cute church face that we all like to put on on Sundays and Thursday nights for Activate; I’m talking about when you are honest enough to be honest and say, «I am stepping into this Tuesday, and I don’t even feel like I’ve got enough to get into 12:00 PM on Wednesday.»
Can we tell them the truth in here right now? And that means that somehow, and even if it’s a task, if it’s something, some of you—I feel the Holy Ghost—some of you are in the middle of something. If you’re honest, there’s a part of you that does not feel like you have what it takes, what’s needed to finish. That’s why God brought you here! That’s why He brought you here! He brought you here to remind you that He blessed you! And the beautiful thing about this blessing is that it did not start with you; it is not of you; it has nothing to do with your capacity!
You did not bless yourself! I think that’s the problem! I think that sometimes when we have had success on our terms—hey, it is both the blessing and a curse! And when I say success on our own terms, that’s actually an illusion, because there is no success without God, truth be told. But when you say, «I did it, » it’s both a blessing and a curse. It’s wonderful because your self-confidence feels good, but it will turn on you; it will turn on you!
The notion that you got yourself where you are will turn on you at the wrong time, because that means that if you were the one who got you where you are, then only you can get you where you’re going. If I haven’t paused to take a moment and recognize that it was the blessing of God that brought me this far, then it helps me to recognize it is the blessing of God that’s going to take me even further! And I’m going to find myself standing in front of a mountain, because terrain didn’t get himself there; the blessing of God got them right there! All I got to do is believe in the «barak» that’s inside of me, and even that mountain is going to fall!
I’m looking at some blessed people; I’m looking at some blessed people! You got more in you than you think! Are you tracking with me? I hear God saying, «And I blessed them.» Every time, it’s so funny; regardless of what you see in the mirror, you have to recognize that you are a mirror of God. So even though you might look in the mirror and see something, you might be seeing something completely different from what God sees.
When God sees you, He sees the reflection of Himself, and it lays Him out! He has to kneel and bow down after the great thing in you! And you’ve got to learn to do the same thing; you’ve got to do the same thing! There’s something about you—there’s something about you that’s incredible! There’s something about you that’s amazing! You’ve got what it takes! You’ve got more than enough! I don’t care what you are facing! You are more than enough! You’ve been «baraked!»
God doesn’t bless and then move His hand back! Ah, that’s man! Man does that! Man will bless you, and then you disappoint man, and he pulls his blessing back. That’s not God! He says, «Once I bless, it is final; it is settled!» You can’t sin your way out! That’s why Jesus came! I want to set this blessing up without conditions! I want to set this blessing up without strings! You are blessed!
We’ve got more to go, but why am I taking my time here? I’m taking my time here because I believe that if you don’t believe you’re blessed, you’ve already lost the battle! You’ve already lost! If you believe that lie, you can’t get to where God ultimately wants to take you! And we’ve ultimately—wants to get you to a place of deliverance! See, being a blessing is a deliverance!
Leaving the Father’s House for Relationship with God
I’m going to keep talking to you until you get it! Being a blessing is a deliverance from neediness! See, I believe that God telling Abraham to get out of his father’s house was telling him to get out of the environment that guarantees a certain degree of neediness. Oh, we shouldn’t make that claim—I’ll take my time here! He says, «I’m not saying that your house is bad; I’m not saying your father’s house is bad, but your country—I’m not saying that’s bad, but what I’m saying is that there are certain things you cannot get there.»
I’ve got six amazing kids—all of them! I love them all! From 3 to 22, I have kids all the way up in there! Six! Y’all pray for me! Six! I have amazing children—amazing in their own rights, individually breathtaking! I strive to be the best father that I can be in every way—every way that a man can be a good father is what I pursue every single day. But I am not delusional about one thing: If they stay in my house under my covering forever, they will always be lacking something, you understand what I’m saying? Because one thing I cannot give them is a relationship with God. I can’t give them that!
And if they don’t have a relationship with God, they will be at a deficit in some way—at least a perceived deficit—and they will always be looking to try to feel—they will be looking to try to get what comes standard and automatic with their relationship with God. Does that make sense? And so what God is saying to Abram is, «I want to get you to a place where you are a blessing!» The whole point of Him saying what He is saying to him is that He wants to get Abraham to the posture and position of not one who is getting blessed, but one whose whole identity is locked into being a blessing.
Who would you be, and what would your life look like if you had settled once and for all that you are blessed? What God has for you is for you; it is already settled! I don’t have to hustle for it; I don’t have to stab my body in the back forth; I don’t have to kiss up to anyone for it! It belongs to me; it is mine before the foundation of the world! If we settled that, who would you be if you walked in that? What negotiations should you not have made? What compromises that cost you ten years and tears would you have avoided if you knew you were blessed?
See, when you don’t know you’re blessed, you do crazy things; you tolerate crazy things! When you don’t know, you’re blessed. Let me show you something: Ephesians 2:10—put it up there really quickly, and we’re going on a journey. Look at this! It says: «For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.» Did you see it? It doesn’t say, «Go after it.» «I’ve got to get mine!» «It’s right there, Lord!»
We are not going to be God’s workmanship; we were created in Christ Jesus for good works—to be a blessing—which God prepared beforehand for us to do. We don’t have to hustle for it! Then we should get our grind on for it! There’s a difference! There’s a difference! If you get your grind on for it, you’re going to be desperate, and you’re going to compromise yourself not realizing that, Proverbs 10:22, «The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it!»
There’s a blessing that you can get that has no strings attached! You ain’t got to compromise! You don’t have to be less than who you are! In fact, this type of blessing allows you to be everything that you are! But you can’t walk in that if you don’t know you’ve been «baraked.» I’ve been «baraked!» Even on my lowest day, God is still—when He sees me, when He thinks about me—boom! He takes the knee!
God says, «For I know the thoughts I think towards you!» God is thinking about you! He says, «For I know the thoughts I think toward you, thoughts of shalom, wholeness, peace, prosperity, and not evil!» When I see you, I see blessings! When I see you, I see strength! When I see you, I see my ability to accomplish everything I put in your heart! When I see you, that’s what I see! And I can’t see anything else!
God, what You see does not determine what I see. And so we’ve got this war of perspectives! God is talking to me according to what He sees, and I’m praying to Him according to what I see! God is saying, «If you would see what I see, your prayer life would change! You wouldn’t pray like a peasant; you would pray like a prince! If you could see what I see, you would ask me for the nations and I would give them to you!» Psalm 2:8—God says, «Ask of me, ask of me for the nations!»
God wants us to ask big! But the reason why we don’t ask big enough, if we’re asking low, we’re asking for rent, and we’re asking for car payments, and we’re asking for a boat, it’s because we don’t know we’ve been «baraked!» God says, «Well, you really ought to start asking me for something that is according to who you are! Ask me for a nation! Ask me for a country! Ask me for a generation! Ask me for an industry! Ask me for something that’s worthy of you!»
So, God says, «You’ve got to get out of your father’s house, got to get out of your father’s house, because in your father’s house you’re going to have a lack of mentality! And you’re going to be out hustling and trying to find yourself, and you’ve got me now filling voids. And you’re going to be out trying this, and you’re going to be out trying that.» You can’t be a blessing like that!
So, «I’m going to bless you; it’s done!» And really, what I’m going to do is I’m going to make you a blessing! One thing I’ve learned about prosperity—even financially—is that prosperity is not about how much you get; it’s measured by how much you give! I wish you would catch that! I wish you would catch that! Some people are excited, saying, «I can’t wait until I get my first million!»
Blessed people say, «I can’t wait until I give my first million!» God is not a getter; He’s a giver! He’s not a getter—get, get, get! He’s not a getter; He’s a giver! But God also understands that giving produces getting! He understands that! Right now, just throughout the service, we have praised God 714 times, and God did not require any of it!
He’s just so good, and He is just so wonderful! And our reasonable response is to give Him praise! He doesn’t need—He doesn’t need! I feel because He doesn’t need; He doesn’t need! He says, «You just need.» He doesn’t need! And we’re too needy in our father’s house until we get out of our father’s house and we get into God’s house. That means we get into relationship with God! Because you notice He says, «Get out of your father’s house into a land that I will show you.» It wasn’t about a place; it was about relationship!
Get into relationship with me! Because in a relationship with me and the environment that that creates, I will destroy your notion of lack! Oh, I wish you would catch it today! One of the most powerful and profound things that God does with people who are in relationship with Him, who get to experience His radical agape—that’s perfect love—is it breaks fear! And so many decisions that we make are fear-based decisions!
We’re afraid that if I don’t do this, I won’t eat! We’re afraid if I don’t do this, I won’t be provided for! They’re fear-based decisions, because we’re still living in our father’s house! And I came to invite you today to come out of your father’s house and come to the land that God wants to show you, where I’ll give you bread to the full! I want to show you manna from heaven! Why did God bring the children of Israel through the wilderness?
He wanted to let them know that they don’t live off of bread alone, but they live off of every word that proceeds out of God’s mouth! He wanted to show them His provision to break the lack mentality off of them, so that they could be a people committed to being a blessing because they were delivered from the fear of not having enough! Who would you be if all you were was a blessing?
Living as a Blessing in Every Environment
If your whole identity could be summed up into one phrase: Who are you? What do you do? I’m a blessing! Oh, I feel the Spirit of God! What do you do? I’m a blessing! I bless people! I bless the earth! I bless everything I come into contact with! That’s what I am! That’s what I am! Try to put me in a box; you can’t! You can’t! You can’t! I’m a bless—“baraked!» Oh yes, I have! You point me to a need; you point me to something dry! And by the time I’m finished with it, it is going to be baptized with water!
Whoa! I feel the Spirit of God! You put me in a desert, and by the time I’m finished with that, it will be a river in Jesus’ name! I’ve got to say, some of you are wondering why you have been positioned in places of pain. Here, the Spirit of God!
Does anybody feel the Spirit of the Lord in this house? I feel the Spirit of the Lord summoning you! And you think that you’re being positioned in the midst of pain is a curse! What if God put me there not because I’m cursed, but because I’m blessed! Because if you put a blessed thing in any environment, it will rise! There are some of you in here right now, and any environment you’re in pays off! God places you somewhere! You don’t know how His favor is on you! You may not be qualified; you may not look like everybody else; you may not talk like everybody else!
But because you’re here, stuff starts changing! Stuff starts shifting! Things start breaking! You are blessed! You better receive it right now! You are blessed! If you’re watching via livestream, you are blessed! Nobody or nothing can do anything about it! By the grace of God, you are who you are! Get out of your father’s house! Step into relationship with God! Let Him break that neediness off you!
God is going to bring you to a place where you’re not going to need a mate to bless you, and you’ve got to be blessed like me in order to move me! Because my game recognizes game! «Barak» recognizes «barak!» To bless! When you’re «baraked, » you don’t need anything; you’re good! You’re not operating from a deficit; you’re operating from abundance!
I’ve got love to give; I’ve got forgiveness to give; I’ve got grace to give! You’ve got it in you to trust again; you’ve got it in you to love again! I know you were hurt, but it didn’t stop you from being blessed! Hurt does not negate blessed! I’ve got love to burn! I’ve got trust to burn! I’m rich! I can forgive you, because I’m rich in every good thing! I’ve been «baraked!»
So there’s only one thing left to do when you’ve been «baraked.» When you have been blessed, there’s only one thing left to do, and that’s to be a blessing! What do blessed people do? I had a lot more to say, but I think we about got it! I think we about got it! You know you got it when you wake up in the morning and ask, «What am I going to bless today? Who am I going to bless today?» Oh God, yeah!
That’s where I want to land you! You can listen to the 9:00 AM service on the podcast if you want something a little more intense! I came here to let somebody know that you are blessed—not this cute little «God bless you!» Let me tell you something: Somebody today—Monica, one of our art leaders—she walked past me there. «Monica, did you hear? She probably passed already; she’s at the early service. But she walked past me and she said, ‘God bless you! ’» And I knew I had this word in my heart, and it did something to me! It wasn’t like that cute little salutation, «God bless you, brother! Bless you, sister! Oh, God bless you!» No!
It was as though she said, «God 'barak’d' you!» That’s what it felt like! It’s when you bless somebody, and every blessed person has a blessing to give! There are some in this room, man! I feel it so strongly! I’m tired, about to jump on a plane and go on for a city tour; everything! Literally, when I leave here, I’m tired, for real! But there’s somebody here, and you don’t think that you have anything to give! You don’t think that the notion of a blessed person can bless you!
It is so far from you to even think that you have it in you to bless somebody else! And you’re in this room, and you’re watching! You’re in this room, and it’s a lie! It’s a lie! If I can get you to not believe that you’re «baraked, » if I can get you to look in the mirror and see what’s wrong, then you will never come to your full potential and identity, and that is to be a blessing! It is to be a blessing!
You look at all the people God used in Scripture before they died; the last thing they did before they died was what? Bless somebody! They lived a lifestyle of blessing, passing on the rich blessing they had. On their deathbeds, they would say, «Bring my sons over here to me! I’m dying! I’m taking my last breath! I’m taking my last breath imparting something!» Because they walked with God long enough and lived with God long enough that the whole purpose of this existence is to be a blessing!
If we were created in the image of God, there is at least a clue that that means—and since He is the great blessor—this is who we are! And how could God expect us to bless if we did not have a «barak» to give?
Altar Call and Closing Prayer
If you’re here, I want to call three groups to the altar to pray and we’re finished. The first group—or maybe you can stand if you want! —is those who want to be real. I love you, man! We all love you! Everybody around you loves you! There’s love in this room! But if you’re here, and you do not feel blessed, something is happening in your heart because you’re in this environment and God is speaking to you!
But you’ve struggled with feeling blessed! The notion of you actually blessing somebody else feels so foreign to you, and I want you to be honest, because that’s a trigger I believe will highlight the reality of where you are subconsciously! But even the notion of you being able to bless somebody else feels like it is almost warring to even accept that! I want you to meet me down at the altar; that’s the first group!
The second group—God bless you, I see you! —I see you! The second group is if you’re here, God bless you. I love you; I appreciate you! Now this is real; this is not the fake stuff—for real! Because we’re trying to get somewhere! The second group: If you’re here, you know when He says, «Get out of your father’s house into a land that I will show you, » what He’s really talking about is entering into a true relationship with God!
He’s not talking about a church; He’s talking about something that’s bigger than church, because God is bigger than church! The church is comprised of people who are believers in God, which means that the church is not synonymous with God—it’s bigger! He’s bigger! God is bigger!
And so, He did not invite Abraham to leave his limited life and go into some sort of religious institution! He says, «I want to be up close and personal with you! I want you to step into this place of relationship with me, where I can be your tour guide in this thing called life, and show you things that you would have never even been able to fathom!»
And not just show you things, but show you things that are assigned to you and through you! It was an invitation to relationship with God straight out! And this was— you know, we always look at Abraham at the end of Abraham’s life, and he had an incredible ending. If you read Genesis chapter 24, it’s absolutely beautiful. It says, «And Abraham was old and well stricken in age, and the LORD had blessed him in every way.»
And so we look at the blessed Abraham! But we don’t look at the initial decision that he made that set him on the journey of these blessings, and that was getting out of his father’s house and stepping into this relationship with God, where he would meet God—where he would learn to trust God, and he would see the miracles of God! He would see the compassion of God! He would see the love of God! He would see the protection of God! He would see the provision of God!
And while all this is happening, the lack mentality that made him needy is dying—dying! And you see Abraham’s boldness increase! You see his favor increase! You see everything else in his life increase! As he is entering into this space of fellowship and relationship with God, if that’s you and you’re here and you say, «Pastor, I want to get out of my father’s house.»
My father’s house represents my past—it represents my upbringing! And all that’s kind of wonderful, and I thank God for some of the things in my upbringing, but I could not be who I was if I did not get out of my father’s house unto a land that God would show me where He would meet me! I want you to come! I had to get out of that! I had to get out of that! There was more to me than where I was from! I had to get out of that!
I thank God for every experience, because all of it helped me to get— all of it became building blocks for where God would take me! But it wasn’t until I had the faith to step out on faith and step into God and say, «God, I’m Yours. What are we going to do?» I believe the same promise that was to Abraham is to you in this house right now, and He says, and He’s calling you by your name!
What’s interesting is He knew a name that Abraham did not know! He did not call him Abraham yet, because He had to call him by what he perceived himself as in that moment. But then, as he walked with God, and traveled with God, God basically says, «You know, your name ain’t Abram anymore. I noticed what they called you! I know that’s how you saw yourself because of your life, because of your self-culture, because of your upbringing, and because of what you’ve been through. That’s how I know it’s how you see yourself, but I’m going to call you!»
He didn’t even say that God called him that! I don’t think it’s just who he was at that moment! And God basically tells him after he learned to trust Him, He says, «Now you know your name: it’s not going to be Abram anymore! It’s Abraham!» Which means «father of many nations.» He was close, because Abraham meant «father.» Abraham means «father of many nations!»
He was close! But it wasn’t it, and he couldn’t get to the expanse of his identity until he stepped out and began to walk with God! If you’re here, it’s an amazing journey! Let me tell you something, family: I’ve never regretted it—even not once—not for a second! «Man, I sure wish I could go back.»
I promise you, on the worst day of my life, it was better than my greatest day of craziness! On the worst day! But, the third point is invitation! And if this is you, you can just stand! If you’re here and you say, «I heard you, and I believe my calling is to be a blessing!» And I heard God call me to something today, and I’m going to be a blessing!
I just want you to stand with me. I’ll pray with you; I’ll pray with you! Father, I thank You for who You are! I thank You for the sons and daughters, Lord, that are here at this altar—the ones who are watching via livestream right now! Thank you, Jesus!
I thank You, and I thank You, God, that You have «baraked» each one of them! And God, regardless of what they may see, their eyes are not trustworthy! The only eyes that are worthy of trust are Your eyes! You say that You «barak» us with an irrevocable, irresistible, irrefutable blessing! That this is who I am, and I cannot be shaken from it!
And Father, I pray that that truth will become their consciousness. The truth doesn’t set us free; our consciousness of the truth is what sets us free! So, Father, to those who thought that the notion would be ludicrous that not only they are blessed, but they have a blessing to give—break that lie!
The opposite is ludicrous—what You bless is blessed forever! And so, Father, I pray that there would be a renewing of the mind here right now! «I am blessed!» Blessed in a way that transcends my experiences in life! Blessed in a way that transcends any mistake, failure, or perceived failure! You bless in a way that moves outside of any and all of that because that blessing moved before we even got here!
That blessing predates any mistakes! For we are Your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works prepared before the foundation of the world—that all we have to do is walk in it! I hear God; I hear the Lord saying, «All you have to do is walk in it!» You don’t have to become it; all you’ve got to do is believe it so that you can walk in it!
Father, I pray also for those who are leaving their father’s house today! They’re leaving their father’s house—some for the first time, some not for the first time, but renewing their commitment to walk with You. I thank You, God, that the blessing of Abraham is our blessing! You’re going to bless them, and make their name great! You’re going to make them a great nation; You’re going to give them great influence! Hallelujah!
And most of all, they are going to be a blessing! I thank You that they’re going to hear Your voice unlike at any other time in their lives! I thank You, God, that they’re going to have a hunger for You unlike any other moment in their relationship with You! I mean a hunger and a thirst that You are going to respond to by filling to the overflow!
And as they walk with You, as they walk with You, chains will fall, fear is going to bow here and now, because Jesus, You are going to change everything! And then, God, for all of us: We hear You! You’ve made it plain, verse by verse, line by line, by Your Spirit that our calling as human beings is to be a blessing! And let us not be shaken from this posture!
Let not offense shake us from our calling to be a blessing! Let not hate shake us from our calling to be a blessing! Let not hurt shake us from our calling to be a blessing! Let not confusion shake us from our calling to be a blessing! Let not fear shake us from our calling to be a blessing!
Let no principality shake us from our calling to be a blessing! Because by Your grace, we are who we are! And God, I thank You that as we walk in being a blessing, I thank You that we will never lack blessing in our lives! You don’t pursue harvests before seed! You recognize that seed is the beginning of harvests!
Therefore, as we seek to be a blessing, we don’t even do it to get blessed! We do it because our blessing is in it! Still, this work in the hearts and in the minds of Your sons and daughters! And may we be a generation of blessers! Oh, hallelujah! Whoa! May we be a generation of generous blessers, unlike anything this world has ever seen! To the glory of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! If you agree with that prayer, put your hands together!